Public-disclosure reports filed by the candidates this week showed that Groen raised nearly four times as much money as Alexander -- $301,115 to $76,645 -- by the end of June.

For a state judicial campaign nearly four months before the general election, it is a gigantic campaign fund.

Nine of the donations to Groen came in sums ranging from $10,000 to $25,000 each, all less than a month before a new state law limiting judicial campaign contributions to $2,800 ($1,400 for the primary and $1,400 for the general election) took effect June 7.

His three biggest contributions -- of $25,000 each, from a home builder, a lumber-company president and a real estate investor -- all arrived five days preceding the new law. Six other contributors gave $5,000 each. Before June 7, there were no limits on contributions to judicial campaigns.

Groen, a Bellevue lawyer, has strong backing from the politically conservative, heavy-spending Building Industry Association of Washington, the builders' lobby with which he has been closely affiliated. He has represented building and development interests in litigation over land-use regulations and other regulatory laws.

The BIAW is also backing state Sen. Stephen Johnson, R-Kent, in his campaign against Supreme Court Justice Susan Owens. Johnson has outraised his opponent, having reported contributions of $104,323 to Owens' $69,121 through June 30. Justice Tom Chambers, who has no known election opponent yet, raised $131,975.

Of the five candidates running for the three positions, Groen is the only one who has accepted contributions exceeding $2,800. Alexander supported the new contribution limits for judicial candidates, which were enacted by the Legislature this year, and pledged to abide by those limits even before they became law.

To avoid running afoul of the new law, Groen was a prodigious spender as well as a prodigious fundraiser before June 7. Judicial candidates are severely restricted in how they can spend contributions exceeding $1,400 that remained unspent after the law took effect.

In the seven days preceding June 7, the Groen campaign spent more than $180,000, over half of what it raised. Most went for campaign materials, printing, consultants and the like.

The Alexander campaign Tuesday lambasted Groen's fundraising, saying in a news release, "The chief justice believes the public will be offended and insulted by the enormous size of the wealthy special-interest contributions to his opponent.

"The public should rightly consider whether the recipient of such large-scale contributions would be likely to feel a need to support the agenda of that interest group."

Charlie Klinge, Groen's campaign finance chairman, replied that the big contributions the candidate received were perfectly legal and that Groen "complied with the law in all respects."

"The Legislature chose to implement the law on June 7," Klinge said. "They could have done it by emergency and had it enacted sooner, but they didn't. So the Legislature decided that everyone would have the options to accept legally large contributions prior to June 7, and our campaign chose to do that."

The campaign for the non-partisan court is lining up along partisan and ideological lines. Groen has received money from builders and developers, other business interests and conservatives. Alexander -- originally a Republican appointee to the bench -- has received money or endorsements from the state Democratic Party, the Washington State Labor Council, a number of trial lawyers and retired Supreme Court justices.

As Johnson did previously, Groen has declined to take part in the judicial candidate evaluation program of the King County Bar Association.

Johnson said he did so because he believed the bar's evaluators were liberal and biased in favor of his opponent. Klinge declined to comment on Groen's reasons for declining to take part.

The bar association notified members Tuesday that its judicial screening committee is seeking comment about the candidates and "attempts to rate all candidates in these elections whether or not they choose to participate in the committee's comprehensive evaluation process."